


The Episode

by stellarose



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Enthusiastic Ava Sharpe, F/F, Light Angst, One Shot, Podcast, Protective Sara Lance, Stab Cast, stabcast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarose/pseuds/stellarose
Summary: While catching up on StabCast, Sara listens to a cold-case episode that sounds strangely familiar. In a panic, she realises it wasn't a serial killing, but a hit by the League of Assassins, and worries that Ava's hobby may have put everything they've built in jeopardy.
Relationships: Sara Lance/Ava Sharpe
Comments: 10
Kudos: 159





	The Episode

**Author's Note:**

> One-shot. This story goes between "Romeo v Juliet" and "Zari, Not Zari".
> 
> Kudos and comments are much appreciated :)

It was a relatively quiet day on the Waverider. Sara was in the gym, Ava in their office researching for her podcast, Nate in the library, Behrad in the lab, CMick in his room, and John, Zari, Charlie and Gary at John’s mansion looking into some magic-related issue which John thought had potential, Zari thought was dull, Charlie had only gone because Zari had gone, and Gary was overly enthusiastic as usual.

Sara was glad to have some uninterrupted time in the gym, and after a heavy legs, abs and upper-body session, decided to run it off on the treadmill. She swapped her workout playlist for Ava’s StabCast podcast, knowing she should at least catch up on a couple of episodes, even if it was on 1.25x speed. Sara was only half paying attention, listening to the sound of Ava’s voice more than the words she was actually saying, and realising she could quite happily listen to Ava read _The_ _Federalist Papers_ , or _Issues In Federal Tax Revisions: Tax Developments in 1973_ , or the _1996 Suzuki X-90 Manual_ , all of which for some reason had been floating around the ship for the past couple of days. Sara made a mental note to ask Gideon later on where these random books and pamphlets came from. Maybe there’d always been random things floating around, only Ray had been there to sort them out, Sara reflected.

Sara wasn’t sure when the podcast episode changed, but noticed that Ava was telling her about the city of Chengdu in China in 2011, rather than about a watchmaker in France in the 19th century. She was enjoying Ava’s evocative, if somewhat stereotypical, description of the city to set the tone of whatever murders had happened there. Sara allowed her mind to wander. The team was due for a trip to Aruba. Should they invite Ray and Nora? She needed to get something for her dad’s birthday. She needed to visit her dad. What was Mick going to do about Lita? Sara felt like pizza for dinner. Proper Naples-style pizza. Ava’s theories on these killings were silly, no Chinese gangstas are suave enough to pull off these murders. Sure they’re gruesome enough, but the locked-room business? Clearly it’s the League.

Sara’s heart skipped a beat and she almost fell off the treadmill. It was the League. Ava had recorded a podcast about League hits and - and Ava’s podcast was going to get them all killed.

“Oh, shit, SHIT!” Sara cursed, pulling out her headphones and racing out of the gym. “Ava? AVA!”

“Sara, what the…?”

Sara almost ran into Ava as she entered the bridge.

“Are you ok? What’s going on?” Ava asked, looking at Sara for any sign of injury.

“You have to delete the podcast,” Sara said. “You have to, Ava. It can’t - no one else can - ”

“Woah, babe, slow down,” Ava said, rubbing Sara’s arm, even though it was sweaty. “What about the podcast? You mean StabCast?”

Sara took a deep breath as she tried to control her panic and nodded. “You have to delete it.”

Ava gave Sara a quizzical look, not understanding why Sara was so worked up. “I - why? I don’t want to delete the whole show, I mean, I’ve been working on it for - ”

“No, just that last episode,” Sara said.

“Episode 117? I thought my research on the victims of Jack the Ripper was very thorough, insightful and yet respectful. Or do you mean the last episode you listened to?” Ava asked.

“What?” Sara asked, her heart rate slowly returning to normal, but her exasperation growing. She tried to convince herself that frustration was preferable to fear.

“I know you don’t keep up with it, but I love that you try. What episode were you listening to, Sara?” Ava asked kindly, giving Sara an encouraging smile.

Sara stepped back, away from Ava’s comforting touch and warm smiles. She didn’t deserve them. She folded her arms across her chest. “The one about China,” Sara mumbled.

“Ooh, the Liu Pengli one? Episode 112?” Ava asked, getting quite excited. “He’s one of the earliest recorded serial killers, from the second century, BC. There’s so little documentation on serial killers before the 19th century, and to have sources from way back then… Is there something wrong with the sources? Is he an anachronism or something?”

“What? No, not that one,” Sara said, feeling overwhelmed by Ava’s enthusiasm and deluge of information on one of her favourite topics. How many Chinese serial killers had she done podcasts about anyway?

“Huang Yong? He was accused of killing 17 teenage boys in Henan province and - ”

“No, I - ”

“Yang Xinhai? He was really quite disturbing to research. He - ”

“No, Ava, the one about - ” Sara said, her irritation and anxiety mingling together, making her feel sick to the stomach.

“Lam Kwok-wai?” Ava suggested. “Though technically that was Hong Kong because it was before the handover from Britain and he - ”

“The locked room ones! In Chengdu,” Sara snapped, cutting Ava off.

“Oh,” Ava said. “Episode 93. That’s an interesting cold case. At first the authorities thought it the Chinese ‘mafia’ or organised crime gangs, but then they found that - ”

“It was the League, Ava!” Sara cried. “It was the fucking League of Assassins. You have to pull the episode. If they find out about it, and find out who you are, and who you are to me, then… That - I - I can’t even let my mind go there.”

Ava took a couple of breaths, suddenly understanding Sara’s panic. “They’ll think you told me about it?”

Sara shrugged, trying to stay composed and resolute, despite the tears burning her eyes and the stabbing, twisting feeling in her stomach.

“Wait, Sara, was - were you…?”

Sara shook her head. “I can’t do this,” she said, her voice breaking as she stepped around Ava and marched away, leaving Ava feeling utterly lost.

…

Ava entered the bedroom, knowing Sara would have heard the door slide open and shut, and would be listening to Ava’s footsteps as she approached. Sara was sitting on her side of the bed, slouched forward, her elbows resting on her knees, hands out in front with her fingers entwined. She looked so small and sad, but Ava knew to wait until Sara gave the ok for physical contact. Ava sat down on the bed with a foot’s distance between her and Sara.

“Behrad’s removed the episode from the podcast on all the usual platforms,” Ava said. “He’s running an algorithm to remove any copies of it on YouTube and anywhere else it might have been copied to. Plus he’s taken down the social media posts about that episode, as well as removing any mentions of it from the Reddit page, and any other blogs or posts that might be about it.”

Sara swallowed. “Did he ask why?” she asked after a moment.

“No, but I think anyone on the ship without their door closed or headphones on heard you,” Ava said sheepishly, wishing Sara would look at her rather than staring at a spot on the floor a few from where she was sitting.

“So, only Behrad then,” Sara said, forcing a small smile as she flicked her eyes to glance at Ava before going back to staring at the floor.

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a minute. “You should probably put something warmer on,” Ava said, breaking the silence. Sara was still in just her sports bra and leggings. She shrugged and said nothing.

“I’m sorry,” Ava said.

“Why?” Sara asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I - I should have…” Ava trailed off. She knew Sara was right: she hadn’t done anything wrong. Every so often she did a podcast episode on a cold case of suspected serial killings, and it just so happened that this one was… “Was it you?” Ava asked apprehensively.

Sara swallowed. “Does it make a difference?” she asked quietly, her voice sounding far away and utterly defeated. “Even if that case wasn’t me… others just like it were.”

“Sara…” Ava began, but realised she had no idea what to say. Ava began to regret coming to talk to Sara. She wasn’t good with emotions and difficult conversations at the best of times, and right now, Sara wasn’t giving her much to work with. “You’re sure it was the League?”

“Yes.”

Ava rubbed the bridge of her nose. All the research she had done for that episode came flooding back. The gruesome yet efficient murders, the rooms locked from the inside, the family reports, the police files and requests for information from the public. It made sense now why no one came forward. Ava looked at Sara, and wished she knew what to say, or how to help, but she didn’t. So she just sat there in silence.

“You don’t have to stay,” Sara said after a while, her voice thick with emotion she was forcing down.

“Yes, I do,” Ava said. “I - I don’t know what to say, or how to help, or what you need, but if you tell me to go, I’ll go. Otherwise, I - ”

“Thank-you,” Sara said softly, momentarily catching Ava’s eye. “Stay. Please.”

Ava nodded and gave Sara a small smile. Sara looked back at the floor.

They stayed like that for some time, before Sara finally took a deep, shuddering breath and lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. Ava turned to look at her, still apprehensive about touching Sara without an ok. Just because Sara was happy for her to stay didn’t mean she wanted physical contact.

“I - ” Sara began and stopped, trying to gather her thoughts. “I know what I’ve done, what I was. And I - nothing scares me more than you getting caught up in all that. I - I can’t lose you to that world, Ava. I have to believe that if there was a hit put out on you that Nyssa would tip me off, but there’s no guarantee that she would even know. If we were tipped off… we could never go back. Not without a massive risk, and I - I won’t put you at risk.”

Ava nodded. “I’m sure there’s something I’m supposed to say now, but I, umm… please just don’t push me away. Even when you’re scared. Especially when your scared,” Ava said, wishing she didn’t feel so scared herself.

Sara held out her hand, which Ava took and lay back beside her.

“I just couldn’t bear it if you got hurt because of me,” Sara said, turning her head to look at Ava, feeling the warmth from Ava’s hand coursing through her own. “If something happen to you because of me, because of what I’ve done and my associations…”

“What if I run any future cold-case podcast episodes past you first? Just to check there’s no… association?” Ava asked.

Sara nodded and turned her head back towards the ceiling, closing her eyes. “That could work. I - I just hate that is has to be like this. That one slip-up could mean that… that I lose you because I…”

“Sara, look at me,” Ava said, tugging gently at Sara’s hand. Sara turned her head back to look at Ava and slowly opened her tear-filled eyes. “I have always known what I was getting myself into with you. I know the risks, and I understand that they scare you and not for a moment am I trying to dismiss them, but I - I love you, Sara, and nothing is going to change that. Ok?”

Sara bit her lip. “Ok,” she breathed after a moment. She had to accept Ava’s words, her companionship, her love, otherwise Sara knew she’d really start to spiral, and that wasn’t fair on anyone.

Ava lifted their entwined hands and kissed Sara’s knuckles.

“Sorry I freaked out and yelled at you,” Sara said.

“Hey, if you’re going to freak out over anything, me possibly pissing off the League of Assassins is a perfectly sensible reason,” Ava said with a small smile

Sara chuckled despite herself and wiped her eyes. “I’d better go and do a yoga podcast or something. I never cooled down properly after that workout session and I can feel my thighs tightening.”

“I’m happy to do it with you, if you want a partner.”

“Always,” Sara said, her smile almost reaching her eyes.

“Come on, then,” Ava said, sitting up and pulling Sara up with her. “I’ll even give you a rub-down afterwards.”

“In that case,” Sara said, not letting go of Ava’s hand. “I’ll let you tell me all about whatever your researching for your next podcast.”

“Really?” Ava asked, beaming. “I was thinking of doing an episode about Anders Hansson, from Sweden. He was a hospital orderly who poisoned his victims with detergent in the late 1970’s, and he - ”

“Spoilers for my rub-down, babe,” Sara smiled, swinging Ava’s hand.

“If you want me to talk about something else…”

“Ava, I would listen to you read that _Fundamentals of Building Contract Management_ book I saw in the library the other day.”

“What is going on with all the random titles floating around at the moment?” Ava asked. “I saw a seventeenth century reprint of Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_ in the galley the other day.”

“Oh, that’s probably just Nate’s light reading,” Sara chuckled. “And I think everything else might be a result of our recent lack of Ray to tidy up after us.”

“People on this ship have some very strange interests,” Ava said.

Sara laughed, and nudged Ava.

“Oh, shut up,” Ava chuckled. “At least I keep my copy of _Talking with Serial Killers_ on my bedside table.”

“Which isn’t weird at all,” Sara said, reaching up to give Ava a kiss on the lips before she could protest.

**Author's Note:**

> The End :)


End file.
